Phrasal verb
ham up
Definition
phrasal verb. to act in an exaggerated way to make people notice you or to make a performance more dramatic. You use this when someone is being too theatrical or silly.
phrasal verb. to overact or exaggerate a performance or emotion for dramatic or comedic effect; often used transitively with a direct object like 'it' or a specific role.
Examples
“He likes to ham up his accent to make us laugh.”
“The lead actor decided to ham up his death scene, making the audience giggle instead of cry.”
“Although the script was quite serious, the supporting cast chose to ham up their performances, turning the historical drama into something closer to a farce.”
Examples
simple
“He likes to ham up his accent to make us laugh.”
contextual
“The lead actor decided to ham up his death scene, making the audience giggle instead of cry.”
complex
“Although the script was quite serious, the supporting cast chose to ham up their performances, turning the historical drama into something closer to a farce.”
Usage
often used with 'it' as a dummy object ('ham it up') or with a specific behavior as the object.
Teaching tip
the term likely comes from 'hamfatter,' an old slang term for a low-quality actor; it is useful for discussing performance, storytelling, and social exaggeration.
Pitfall
He hams up it for the camera.
He hams it up for the camera.
when using the pronoun 'it', it must go between the verb and the particle in this specific idiomatic usage.
Phrasal verb
Particles
up
Separability
optional
Pattern
ham + (object) + up
Synonyms
Antonyms
Grammar
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/ham-up